“Toronto photo-sharing startup 500px is reporting today that both of its applications, 500px for iOS and its recent acquisition ISO500, have been pulled from the Apple App Store due to concerns about nude photos,” Sarah Perez reports for TechCrunch.

“The move came shortly after last night’s discussions with Apple related to an updated version of 500px for iOS, which was in the hands of an App Store reviewer,” Perez reports. “The Apple reviewer told the company that the update couldn’t be approved because it allowed users to search for nude photos in the app. This is correct to some extent, but 500px had actually made it tough to do so, explains Tchebotarev. New users couldn’t just launch the app and locate the nude images, he says, the way you can today on other social photo-sharing services like Instagram or Tumblr, for instance. Instead, the app defaulted to a “safe search” mode where these types of photos were hidden. To shut off safe search, 500px actually required its users to visit their desktop website and make an explicit change.”

Perez reports, “More importantly, perhaps, is the fact that the “nude” photos on 500px aren’t necessarily the same types of nude images users may find on other photo-sharing communities. That is, they’re not pornographic in nature… most of the nudes you’ll find on 500px, whose community tends to include professional photographers and other photo enthusiasts, are of an ‘artistic’ nature… User reaction, as expected, is a bit incredulous, considering how easy it is to find nudity in other apps, including in all web browsers.”

This purely tyrannical Puritanism by Apple is offensive and insane. It greatly offends me that Apple thinks that nudity is some sort of scourge we need to be protected from, meanwhile you can get apple where you shoot and blow up people, that’s perfectly fine.

I guess you guys have no idea that people have the right to privacy, or, considering that you appear to have no respect, that you can be sued for invasion of privacy. Try posting your girlfriend’s picture without her permission and hope her father isn’t a lawyer. Grow up!

You sound like some backwoodsman nut who has never seen a bare titty before. Would you rather that the App Store Hitler banned iPhoto and Photo Stream because nude photos could be shared and broadcast to the wider world!

Some of the App Store rules are truly ridiculous which has resulted in the withdrawal of some very useful apps from the App Store. Translator Free is one, MPlayerX is another.

Apple should emerge from its long dark control freak tunnel and see the light. Communism fell in Russia 20 years ago and yet we have the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler alive and well in the App Store.

Well, in TFlint’s defense, I am the father of two 20-something girls and though I’m not a PhD, I’m pretty worldly wise, and I would really have a cow if someone sent me a link to a site that showed them showing anything that a bikini should be hiding.

Forgot to mention again in TFlint’s defense: Suppose the images were of your underage daughter? Don’t think it isn’t possible? These days with the ease of snapping shots with phones and credit-card sized cameras, anything’s possible, even for kids whose family has done its best to raise them to be responsible. Lots of legal implications here. And often impossible to track.

“The app was removed from the App Store for featuring pornographic images and material, a clear violation of our guidelines. We also received customer complaints about possible child pornography. We’ve asked the developer to put safeguards in place to prevent pornographic images and material in their app.”

Well, that says it all, doesn’t it?

Honestly, why not have safeguards in place?

Do any of you know any children? Have children? Seriously, were any of you even a child once?!

And MDN, Eden was fine until some idiots not unlike you or me ruined it for everybody. So there you have it!:)

Idint see the point in removing photo share app becoase you can search for nude images when you can use google, bing and yahoo in safari todo the samerhing if apple wants to keep nude and porn off its phone then they shouldnt have made a smart phone that connects to rhe internet

Eeee ahhh ahh eee eeee eee. It’s like someone shook a cage full of monkeys. Calm down! Apple is not banning it for nudity. They are banning it because of the lack of safeguards for nudity. Once the app is modified….I.e. blatant nudity is out of reach of under ten year olds the app will be perfectly fine..

Parents train their kids to be ashamed of nudity, punished for merely thinking about them, avoiding their own parental responsibilities to teach their children about sex. It is not innate for children to associate the natural sounds and sights of the human body as being the creation of a devil or otherwise somehow (never explained) evil. They are taught to hate their bodies, and themselves if they are not within the arbitrary parameters of the local herd, but encouraged to obsess over superficial traits.

You only need to poll the children and adults raised in a naturist (nudist) family their entire life. They have the healthiest attitudes concerning sex, much less likely to have a teen pregnancy, and find no interest in images labeled as pornographic. Stop pornography by being nude. Sounds funny, but it works. The reason so few Americans participate in their local WNBR is the fear, by the end of the ride, they will find all nudity boring, and they’d be right.

More importantly, I would never think about editing someone else’s world based on mine. A powerful minority imposing their own archaic morality upon the weakened majority is an obscenity not unlike bullying.

Wow. 500px is one of my very favorite sites, and the app has a decent navigation, and yes, you have to be a ‘member’ and make the request at the web site to see photos marked as ‘nude’. That said, the quality of photograph in 500px is extremely high, professional or talented amateur level, and the erotic/glamour content is, well, superlative and, as far as I can tell, involves professional models most of the time. Very stupid, short-sighted decision to yank it. Just glad I’ve had it for months now.

I imagine that Apple is trying to preserve the ‘purity’ of its ecosphere so its devices will have universal, worldwide appeal. Inasmuch as everyone has access to nudes, porn and kiddie porn on their browsers, I don’t see that anyone’s rights have been seriously infringed.